Patterson, Hackel: RTA should be abandoned, SMART is regional transportation

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson speaks about a millage renewal for suburban bus service during a news conference May 22, 2018 with John Hertel, general manager of SMART, left, and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel, across from an Amazon warehouse under construction in Shelby Township.(Photo: Christina Hall, Detroit Free Press)

Suburban Detroit's top two political leaders stepped up their rhetoric Tuesday against a proposed regional transit tax, saying the area already has a regional transportation system in the form of SMART.

Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson said the Regional Transit Authority created by the Legislature should be abandoned, calling it "a glorified SMART."

He and Macomb County Executive Mark Hackel instead urged voters in the tri-county area to approve a 1-mill renewal for SMART (Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation) in the August election.

Their comments came at a news conference across from an Amazon warehouse under construction in Shelby Township.

The site for the news conference was chosen because SMART plans new routing and additional stops at the 1,200-job facility that is scheduled to open in the fall. SMART also has new routing and additional stops planned around the Amazon center in Romulus, which is to open in the summer.

Patterson said he thought the RTA was a "bad idea;" while Hackel said he is concerned voters in August will confuse the SMART millage renewal with a revived effort to pass a regional transit millage. A regional transit millage proposal failed in 2016 and has been revamped, possibly for inclusion on a ballot in November.

But the county executives, who have not been supportive of a regional transit millage, said the SMART millage is different and one voters have supported in the past.

"This is not the RTA. This is SMART," Hackel said.

The SMART renewal is for 1 mill approved by voters in 2014 for the region's suburban bus system.

Both county executives said that if the SMART millage fails in any of the three counties, it would be devastating to the system.

Wayne County Executive Warren Evans in a statement said that he supports both the SMART millage and an RTA tax "because it is the best path to a true regional system with all the benefits transit can provide.”

Dan Lijana, spokesman for Connect Southeast Michigan, a coalition pushing for the passage of a regional transportation tax this year, agreed.

“The region is suffering without a true regional transit system. SMART is only a partial solution because it has no long-term funding source and allows communities to be left out of the service area."

He said regional agreements work because they don’t allow opt-outs. He said the RTA builds on the service that SMART, DDOT (Detroit Department of Transportation) and AAATA (Ann Arbor Area Transportation Authority) provide while ensuring no community would be left without transit service.

Lijana said while SMART provides a good service, there are holes in the system. All of Macomb County is in the system, but there are opt-out communities in Oakland and Wayne counties.

The RTA, which was created by the Legislature in 2012, is an umbrella organization charged with coordinating DDOT, SMART, AAATA and the Detroit People Mover. The expectation has been that it would eventually take over responsibility for the QLINE, the streetcar that travels up Woodward Avenue in Detroit. It doesn't operate any specific system.

Patterson and Hackel have been at odds with Evans and Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan, who endorsed a revamped regional transit plan after the prior one failed. The new plan would be for a 1.5-mill regional transit millage in the tri-county area and Washtenaw County. It would be for 20 years.

Patterson touted statistics about SMART, including its connection with health care destinations, saying the system provides door-to-door rides to 112,000 Oakland County citizens a year with 15,200 trips to Oakland County area hospitals. He said there is regular service to hospitals, including those in Royal Oak and Pontiac.

SMART General Manager John Hertel talked about the new FAST bus service along Gratiot, Woodward and Michigan and service to both terminals at the airport.

He said the agency is working with the state regarding signal control so it can perpetuate green lights to make service faster. Officials said there is talk with three other communities in Oakland and Wayne counties about opting into the service, though Hertel would not disclose which communities.

The SMART renewal would be for four years and would generate $71.4 million in the first year, SMART officials told the Free Press in April.

Ballot language in Oakland and Macomb counties will include the SMART renewal and a very slight millage increase because both counties collected just under the current rate of 1 mill the last several years because of Headlee rollbacks.

For voters in Wayne County, the 1-mill proposal is expected to be a renewal because there was no rollback that affected the rate being collected, Robert Cramer, SMART's deputy general manager, previously told the Free Press.

The 1-mill rate would cost a taxpayer with a $100,000 home about $50 per year, David Sabuda, SMART's director of finance, previously said.